THE KNICKERBOCKER MUSIC CENTER
35 Railroad Avenue, Westerly, RI 02891 (Misquamicut) | (401) 315-5070
Closed Today
The club thrived as one of the leading entertainment centers in southern New England, hosting regional and national bands with an emphasis on the blues. Some of the greats that played on the Knickerbocker stage included, Big Joe Turner, Albert Collins, Johnny Copeland, Johnny Nicholas, Leon Russell, Eric Burdon and Stevie Ray Vaughan. In 1967, Roomful of Blues was born in Westerly, when guitarist Duke Robillard and pianist Al Copley started a band that played tough, no-holds barred Chicago blues. Making the Knickerbocker Café their home club, it did not take long before they started exploring swinging, jumping blues and added a horn section. Roomful would pack the house every Sunday and still plays their great brand of blues today.
Fast forward and the Café has become the Knickerbocker Music Center, a non-profit organization formed in partnership with the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School. The mission of the Knickerbocker Music Center is to preserve, cultivate and grow the “Knick’s” unique brand of blues, as well as expanding access to music of all genres, by transforming the Knick into both an exciting performance venue and an exceptional center for music education.
Ward Hayden & the Outliers
8pm
Friday, May 22, 2020 at 8:00pm
The Knickerbocker Music Center. 35 Railroad Avenue, Westerly, RI 02891
Live Music
Postponed
Celebration of Country Music Show
Mark, here's a blurb for the show: Ward Hayden and the Outliers, (formerly Girls Guns & Glory), who recently took home Country Artist of the Year honors at the 2019 Boston Music Awards, have put together a stunning show in celebration of Country Music.
This show pays tribute to the music that established the Country & Western genre and wove itself into the fabric of our culture. It runs the gamut of country greats and also touches on the more obscure, but equally incredible country artists, all whose legacies deserve to be championed, appreciated, and preserved.
From Hank Williams to Hank Thompson, from Willie to Waylon, from Dolly to Emmylou, this special performance covers the greats and a whole lot more. This is a show that’s not to be missed.
Ward Hayden & The Outliers (formerly Girls Guns & Glory) formed as a way to break from the music so commonly found on popular radio airwaves. Hayden’s foray into country music and early rock ‘n’ roll began with a fateful borrowing of a few of his mother’s cassettes. When asked, Hayden remarks, “I was doing these long drives and there was nothing appealing to me on the radio. I was twenty years old at the time and had been through my first experiences with heartbreak and loss. When I put some of these cassettes on the player in my Oldsmobile Delta Eighty-Eight, all I could think was, “this is everything I’ve been searching for.”
It took a few years after that to get the band up and running, and now with a line up featuring Paul Dilley on Upright/Electric Bass, Josh Kiggans on Drums and Cody Nilsen on Lead Guitar/Pedal Steel the band has cut it’s teeth the old fashioned way: on the road and on the stage. Since their formation they’ve barnstormed far beyond their Boston hometown, playing honky-tonks, beer joints and more recently concert venues throughout the U.S and Europe. They’ve amassed a loyal legion of fans along the way. The media have noticed too, including Rolling Stone, who heralds them as a “modern-day Buddy Holly plus Dwight Yoakam divided by the Mavericks.”
Spending much of their young-adult lives relentlessly touring the US and Europe has not been without hardships, but also not without it’s rewards. The experiences the band has gone through on the road have led to a broader songwriting perspective and also conditioned the band into a well-oiled machine. And when it comes to versatility and musicianship, these guys are second to none. I’m not sure there’s an instrument under the sun that someone in this band can’t find a way to play.
Their love for early rock ’n’ roll, true country, raw blues and pretty much any kind of authentic American music branded them quickly as anomalous — and electrifying. The song topics run the gambit of love, hope, work-a-day life, the grind and the results of those experiences on the body and mind.
The band, hailing from the Northeast, have always been outliers in the world of country music, often joking they were born out of time and out of place. But, they have stayed true to the sounds that inspired them and the genuine life experiences they’ve gone through no matter where they hail from.
Ward Hayden and The Outliers are a musical force to be reckoned with. From heart wrenching ballads, to foot-stompin’ rock ‘n’ roll, whether live or on record, Ward Hayden and the Outliers deliver every time.
Cowboy and Lady is a country-blues inspired duo featuring Tyler-James Kelly (The Silks) & Jess Powers.
Show: 8p | Doors: 7p
Tickets: $15 advance / $18 door ($2 Service Charge Included With Online Tickets. All sales are final, no ticket refunds or exchanges. Seats are on a first-come, first-serve basis, and seats are not guaranteed with ticket purchase.)
